Pretty Ugly
by Facades
Summary: Rima may be beautiful on the outside, but her ugly personality is too much for anyone to handle. After being cursed by a witch, she has a year to find someone to teach her how to do the impossible: love the beauty within.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** A few things that need to be addressed before reading this story:

1) There is some crude language in this story. This story stars teenagers, and no real teenager says "holy cow." Don't read if you're easily offended or bothered by profanity.

2) The main character, Rima, **OOC for a reason**. Don't write any reviews that go something like "Rima isn't in character!" or "I don't think Rima would do something like that?" because here's the thing: **I DID THAT ON PURPOSE**. It's for plot-purposes, and she will eventually turn IC as the story progresses, I can assure you. If you want more of an elaboration on why she's OOC, then read the AN at the bottom.

3) If you've ever read the book/seen the movie "Beastly," then you'll see some similarities. I guarantee you, that it's not my intention to recreate the story written by Alex Flinn. Although, I would be lying if I said that some parts of the story didn't inspire some parts of this fic.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, here are a few notes:

First off, this really isn't that original of a fic but I wanted to write this for so long, and I had fun doing it, so I uploaded it. I originally got it written during the summer, but it wasn't that good and there was a lot of editing needed to be done.

Thank you to **En ar Ciel** who graciously beta'd this story, though it's not like I give her much of a choice, but I still appreciate the time and effort she puts into these things. :)

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><p><em>This story is dedicated to all of you die-hard RimaHiko fans. You crazy guys are the ones who were my main inspiration for this.<em>

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><p><em>She's so fine.<br>_She thinks she's so damn fine.  
><em>_She might be fine,  
><em>_But she ain't worth a second of your time.__

_-The Way We Talk_; The Maine

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><p><em>Being perfect really isn't impossible.<em>

_If I can pull it off, then anyone can, right?_

_Wrong. _

_You see, not everyone's perfect. I'm not saying nobody is, but there are only a select few that can actually reach this level. Just because I'm one of them shouldn't give you hope. _

_Because I'm _special_, and you're not. It's the honest truth, and if you can't handle it, then you clearly aren't cut out for this world. __It's people like myself that live a good life. Why? Well that's anybody's guess. Karma, genes, whatever. __I'm just perfect, and that's that._

_And because I am, you're not._

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><p>To say that Rima Mashiro was pretty was an understatement.<p>

Rima Mashiro passed pretty. Rima Mashiro had pretty for a midmorning snack. "Pretty" was a word that could be used to describe a single lock of her hair.

Rima Mashiro was the epitome of glorious.

You had to be blind to not notice her sublime features. Her eyes were bright topaz that glittered like jewels whenever she happened to glance your way, if you were lucky enough. Long, silky, golden curls framed her heart-shaped faced with rosy cheeks that held the most adorable dimples ever to be witnessed. Her lips were a natural light pink, and never seemed to have been chapped a day in her life. A blemish never made its way towards her face and her teeth were always pearly white. Anyone who was ever lucky enough to witness her smile will say how the even the sun was blinded by it.

Some may say that she's too petite, but that just emphasizes the famous "porcelain doll" analogy that she carries around. So small that you want to keep her safe and untouched, because when she breaks it's earth-shattering. She's so beautiful that a single flaw could result in the end of her world.

And it did, for a while.

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><p>Seiyo Academy was a school that every parent wanted to enroll their kids in. It was the Harvard of high schools. Only children with an exceptional academic record had a chance at being considered, and there was very small amount of children that were offered a scholarship each year. Seiyo Academy was a school for the elite, and it wasn't surprising that Rima attended there.<p>

Rima didn't just go to Seiyo Academy, she _ruled_ it. Top of her class, every teacher's favorite pupil, and on the board of every important school club, but that was just the facts that the school cared about. There wasn't one student at Seiyo who didn't know who Rima was, and even the seniors had a look of awe whenever she passed by. Rima was high school royalty. She had every clichéd "Queen Bee" quality and made sure that everyone knew it.

It had been this way ever since she could remember. Even in diapers people adored her. She had the right amount of baby fat in all the right places, making her look adorable and precious. Her dimples were as wide as craters and her laugh was contagious. Every kid had wanted to be her friend, and even today she had qualities that made other kids turn green with envy. She lost her baby fat and hardly ever laughed anymore (She was too cool for things like that), but she had enough money to buy out NASA and throw a party on the moon. Plus she was just so incredibly _cool; _she was oozing with it. Rima practically invented "cool". If she ever deemed something as uncool, it obviously was. After all, Rima Mashiro was never wrong.

Yaya Yuiki was one of the few girls who had the opportunity to consider Rima as one of her "close, personal friends" despite being a ninth grader. Having her in her contacts list and being able to talk ro her via video chat was proof that Rima liked her enough to tolerate the young freshman, even with her persistent questions about what shoes and accessories to wear with her chosen dress for the big Fall Ball that Seiyo Academy was holding. The Fall Ball was a huge social event, despite the incredibly dull and unoriginal name it bore. Seiyo Academy had been holding them since the first year it opened, and it topped all other school events.

"So the Prada or the gold strappy ones I got in Italy during the summer?" Yaya held the shoes up close to her computer's camera, making sure that Rima was able to see them from her own laptop screen. Undoubtedly, Rima was the first person her friends went to for advice. Especially when it came to serious questions like if wearing too many name brands was lame or chic.

"Normally I'd say that you can never go wrong with Prada—" Rima jingled her Prada charm bracelet in front of the camera to make a point, "—but you haven't worn those gold ones before and no one else has them. Everyone will be jealous and you'll start a trend." Yaya giggled and tossed aside her Prada shoes as if it were a candy wrapper, and placed the decided shoes right beside her dress.

"I'm not sure if I'm as much of a trendsetter as you are, but you've never been wrong before." Rima smiled, knowing that both of those statements were true. "So, onto more important things: Who in this lame school who should I go with? I mean, not to sound like an anti-feminist or whatever you call it, but there's no point in even buying a new Dolce dress if I don't have an equally exquisite and attractive guy to take me there."

Rima pursed her lips, thinking hard. "I normally never suggests guys from the soccer team, but you should go with Kuukai…_maybe_." Yaya and Kuukai were friends; everyone thought that they made the most attractive couple ever, and Rima couldn't disagree. Kuukai wasn't Rima's type (Too athletic—Rima absolutely _loathed_ jocks), but whenever he wasn't sweating or covered in grass stains, he actually looked kind of attractive. He was so nice (Or as Rima saw it too simpleminded) that he would do anything anyone asked of him. He was the ideal type of boyfriend: Good-looking and easy to manipulate. Rima probably would've dated him if he wasn't already in a serious relationship with his soccer ball.

Yaya grimaced. "No way, that's like going out with my brother. And besides, he's totally been blowing me off lately to go hang out with that blonde supermodel who just transferred. You know, the one with the tacky pigtails that remind me of bananas and—"

Rima held her hand up, silencing Yaya. She wasn't in the mood for one of the freshman's long rants about how stupid the stupid jock was. She heard enough of it at school. "_Think,_ Yuiki. There has got to be_ someone_ available for you at that lame-ass school we go to. Consider even the freshman, because there's _no way_ you can go to that dance without at date." Rima used her small hand to flip her huge mass of curly hair over her shoulder. "I mean, this is the _Fall Ball_ we're talking about. Going stag in your new Dolce is like stating to the entire world that you don't have enough money to get everything you want."

Yaya frowned, giving the girl on her computer screen a confused look. "If I'm able to snag the new gold Dolce then I think that I have enough money to get anything else I want."

"Anything—" Rima paused for effect. "—but at date."

Yaya bit her lip and sighed quietly, twirling her an auburn lock of hair with her finger. "Well there is this one guy in my science class…" Rima merely raised an eyebrow, prompting the younger girl to spill more. "I mean, he's just a freshman, but he's really nice and has that whole 'cute nerd' thing going on—"

"You're lying," Rima snapped, her voice staid. Yaya's eyes widened like a deer caught in headlights.

"Wh-what do you—"

"That's not true. There are no cute, 'nerdy' freshman. There are a few juniors, some seniors, but no freshman." Yaya's eyes looked down at her manicured toenails and began to nervously pick at the polish. "What's his name?" Rima asked, getting a surprised_ 'Eep!'_ from Yaya. "What's his name?" Rima prompted again, and frowned. She hated having to repeat herself.

"Kairi Sanjo," Yaya squeaked quietly, peeking up at her computer screen and bit her lip even harder once she saw Rima's eyes turn into slits.

"_Please_ tell me you're joking." Yaya opened her mouth to say something but Rima beat her to the punch. "You want to go out with that loser? Yaya, he's like twelve."

"He's fourteen," Yaya said quietly. "My age."

"He's still younger than you," Rima rolled her eyes. "Isn't it a little too soon for you to start looking into a future as a cougar? And besides, you can do way better than that kid. The freak wants to be a _samurai_, for crying out loud."

"He's nice," Yaya said, no longer quietly muttering her words under her breath. "And I think he likes me—"

"_Of course_ he likes you, Yaya. You're way out of his league." Yaya said nothing and looked back down on her toes. Rima huffed. "Look, I'm only saying all this for your own good. Do you know the kinds of things people will say about you if you take _that kid_ to the Fall Ball? And this is your first, too, so it's the second most important one, right behind your last Fall Ball as a senior."

"Look, it's not like I was serious, okay? But, let's be honest here. It's not like I have a bunch of hot senior guys practically breaking down my door and begging to go out with me like you do." Yaya still refused to look up, and continued to pick at her nail polish as if it was more interesting than Rima.

Rima rolled her eyes, starting to get annoyed with her friend. "Quit being so pathetic, Yaya. Just pick a guy and I'll even help you get him if your self esteem is really that low. Just promise me you won't take Mr. Samurai to the dance, or any other loser you come up with. The theme of the dance might be '_Fairy Tale Dream_'—" Rima stuck her finger in her mouth, fake-gagging at the corny name the student committee came up with, "—but going as Beauty and the Freak is just pushing it, don't you think?"

"_Whatever_. Just forget I said anything, alright?" Yaya blew a stray strand of hair out of her face and finally looked back at her webcam. "Let's talk about something else. What are _you_ going to wear to the dance?"

Rima's lips curled up in something that looked similar to a smile, but Yaya knew that was just the face Rima made when she was hiding a delicious secret. "It's a surprise."

Yaya grinned back. Whenever Rima had surprise, it was always well worth the wait. "Of course it is. Alright then, can I ask you who you plan on going with?"

Rima scoffed, as if that was the stupidest question anyone ever asked. "Are you serious? Tadase Hotori, of course."

"Of course." Yaya shook her head. "Silly me. Who else would you go with?" If Rima was the Queen of Seiyo, then Tadase Hotori was the King; he was basically Rima's male counterpart. Tadase was filthy rich, smart, athletic, the president of every important school group, and the undoubtedly the most popular boy in the entire school. The only thing that set the two of them apart was that Tadase was known as a warm and friendly person, whereas Rima was the unmistakable Ice Queen.

"Has he asked you yet?" Yaya asked, and failed to notice that Rima took a bit longer than normal to answer her question.

"You know Tadase. He's so _old fashioned_. He probably plans on getting my dad's 'blessing' beforehand, or something like that." Yaya giggled. "And you know that I'm so _not_ the type of person to wait around for a guy to ask me out. Either he pops the question tomorrow or I'll be forced to go with the next best person." On cue, Rima pretended to look at her phone for the time. "Look, I got to go make sure that my imported bath salts are ready, otherwise I won't be able to shower tomorrow morning and smell almost as bad Ikuto Tsukiyomi after his lunch period." Yaya didn't hold back laughing out loud this time, since it was no secret that the senior spent every free period smoking with a bunch of other rejects on the roof of the school.

"Goodnight," Yaya told her webcam and waved to her computer screen. Rima blew a kiss in return and quickly closed the window, smiling to herself as she laid down on her bed and began to check her Facebook, expecting to see something new on Tadase's wall.

Right on schedule, he got a new wall post from none other than Yaya Yuiki.

_**Yaya Yuiki: **So Tadase, when are you finally going to grow some gumballs and ask **Rima Mashiro** to the dance?_

Rima closed her laptop and smirked. Yaya was such a reliable person to have. She was the biggest blather mouth Rima had ever met and she knew that the freshman couldn't resist telling the whole world about how Rima and Tadase were totally meant to be. So why was it taking so long for him to ask her out?

Rima groaned. Why did the King of Seiyo High have to be the most boring and dullest person ever? With her luck, he would probably say something like how he had to re-read the Bible to a bunch of special needs kids on the same day of the Fall Ball. For someone who was such a kind person to the rest of the student body, he sure had a way of being a jerk to the most important girl at Seiyo.

A terrible thought suddenly occurred to Rima: What if he was already going with some other girl? No, that couldn't be. After all, she would've been the first person to know. Just to make sure and get rid of her paranoia, she jumped for her phone and quickly went back on Facebook. Checking Tadase's relationship status, she let out a sigh when she saw that he was still listed as "single."

But Facebook was hardly that reliable. She, like everyone else, would just have to wait until tomorrow to know for sure. Her paranoia got the best of her again and she went back onto Facebook and continued to search through Tadase's wall, hoping that she wouldn't see anything strange. She was pleased to see that Yaya's wall post got four likes and three comments in just the first few minutes of it, but got annoyed when she saw that he still hadn't replied to it. It wasn't a surprise. Tadase hardly ever went online and only used Facebook for "school purposes."

Rima hated herself for being so hung over a guy, but she couldn't help it. Tadase was, after all, the King of Seiyo High, so it was only expected that they went out together. Only problem was that her King still didn't seem to realize that.

Rima huffed and clapped her hands, shutting off all the lights and got herself nestled underneath her bed sheets. Like her mother always said, gray hairs and worry lines were not worth a night full of stress over a trivial matter. Besides, it was already ten thirty. If she stayed up any longer she'd get bags under her eyes and have to use cover up. Rima's motto was to always wear as little makeup as possible, since she found that makeup was only a tool that celebrities used to avoid looking pale in pictures taken on the red carpet, and for ugly girls who didn't have enough natural beauty to flaunt off so they had to rely on MAC for it.

Rima was perfect. Rima was the epitome of glorious. Even if Tadase didn't have enough balls to take her to the dance, it didn't even matter. She was _Rima Mashiro_. She already had a line of guys waiting to take her outside her door. And Tadase would have to be the biggest dumbass in the world if he rejected her.

She was Rima Mashiro.

And she was perfection.

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><p>"So has Tadase asked you yet?" Yaya chirped excitedly the next morning. Rima almost frowned at how incredibly spastic the girl could be, even at such an ungodly hour like seven thirty. Rima wasn't a morning person, but she always tried to be by waking up at five thirty every morning so that she could have a chance to see her mother off to work. Sometimes she was forced to cover up the dark eye circles that sneaked onto her face, but they soon disappeared the next day with the help some French eye cream that her mother used. Waking up early meant wasting precious sleep and being even bitchier than she usually was, but Rima liked to think that it was worth it if she got to spend at least a few minutes with her mom, even if she was half asleep and her mom was too busy chatting on her Bluetooth with someone important from work to even realize that Rima was still alive.<p>

"I haven't even seen him yet," Rima pointed out as she ordered a grande-sized sugar-free vanilla soy latte. Coffee was the only thing that could help her so early in the morning. Her usual posse, Yaya and fellow junior Saaya Yamabuki, didn't mind joining her on her daily early morning visit to the Starbucks just a block from the school. Well, maybe they_ did_ mind, but it's not like they were going to complain about it.

"Did he call you or text, at least?" Yaya pressed, wanting all the dirty details.

"It's still too early in the morning for me to check my phone." Rima yawned as she waited impatiently for the cashier to give her the right amount of change.

"Then let _me_ check it," Saaya said, making a grab for Rima's purse. Saaya was arguably the richest girl in the school and practically owned it, considering how many donations her family gave every year. Saaya was pretty, but no one ever dared to compare her to Rima. It was no secret that she had been crushing on Tadase Hotori since elementary school, even way before Rima moved to Seiyo. But considering the fact that Tadase was always busy buying food for the homeless squatting in downtown to even consider a girlfriend, neither Saaya or Rima had a chance until now. Rumor was that Tadase was planning on asking Rima to the Fall Ball ever since Yaya spread the word that Rima would go out with him if he asked her, and Saaya was less than pleased.

Rima held the bag out of Saaya's reach, which was hard to do considering the fact that Saaya was nearly a whole foot taller than Rima. "Please. Do you really think that Tadase would ask me out through a _text_?" Rima asked her tall, red-haired companion.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. He only uses his phone for 'school-related' reasons," Yaya snorted as she grabbed her double chocolate chip frapp from the barista. Rima wondered how the younger girl still managed to maintain her ballerina figure even though she ate so much sugary crap. Rima always had a naturally small figure, but she was too cautious and never risk it by gorging on chocolate everyday like Yaya did. And she had already decided to outgrow the double chocolate chip frapp when she was in the sixth grade. Yaya, however, failed to get the memo.

Saaya handed Rima her drink as she uncapped her mineral water. "He's on a lot of school clubs and takes a ton of extracurricular activities, not to mention the numerous amounts of charity work he does. It's understandable that he doesn't have enough time to send a Tweet or do a status update everyday." Noticing the strange look Rima was giving her, Saaya quickly corrected herself. "Besides, he might be a workaholic, but that doesn't mean he has no class. He probably has a way more romantic way of asking you out."

"Whatever. I hardly even care about Tadase. Sure, we would look great together, but it's not like I don't have other offers," Rima told them, acting nonchalant as she strolled down the sidewalk. Usually when the weather was good enough the girls would have someone drive them to Starbucks and they'd walk the rest of the way to school, since it was only a block away. They would have a better chance at catching up on gossip that way; though the sun was bright and the wind was strong, making the girls grumble as they attempted to fix their hair.

Rima adjusted her Seiyo High uniform skirt and frowned at it. It was bright red plaid and didn't do a good job of matching the tacky blazer that went with it. Fortunately for her and the rest of the fashion-conscious student body, the Seiyo High board was more lenient than other private schools about the dress code, so most of the kids at Seiyo could get away with wearing just their white dress shirts and ties and ditching the blazer altogether. Some never bothered to even put on the official tie properly, which matched the skirts (Or for the males, the blue plaid shorts) and had it hang loose around their necks.

Ever since Rima transferred to Seiyo, she was determined to somehow manipulate the sub-par outfit and make it coordinate with the expectations she had for herself. She somehow got away with hiking up her skirt a bit—since there was no way anyone as short as her could look chic with a knee-length plaid skirt—but not too high that it'd be considered trampy. She only wore the blazer in the morning for the daily school announcements in the auditorium (Since that was, sadly, the only time during the entire school day where the principal cared if the students had their shirts tucked in properly, and they were were forced to abide the dress code unless they wanted a hour-long detention) and later replaced it with a chic navy Burberry sweater. The red tie was to her schoolbag as a little bow accessory, a trend that later soon caught on with a lot of the other girls. She had her socks scrunched down stylishly to match any kind of shoe she wore that day; the way she styled her uniform pleased her and made her represent the school in a good way, even though she got several complaints from the teachers for the tie on her purse.

"I _hate_ the school colors," Rima scoffed, gesturing to her skirt. "I mean, really? Red for girls and blue for the boys? This is high school, not some lame-ass baby shower."

"Cursing is unladylike," Saaya said, snickering as she read something on her phone. Rima rolled her eyes and playfully smacked her friend with her purse. "After all, isn't that what you always used to say?"

"She _still_ says it." Yaya smiled as she sipped her frapp. Again, Rima wondered how she could possibly manage to drink that kind of stuff still, not to mention that it was fall and the weather was beginning to get colder and colder.

Rima took small sips of her latte. "Cursing _is _unladylike. And immature. The only exceptions to the rule are Seiyo High and dumb-ass boys."

"Speaking of boys, let's get inside already!" Saaya said as they strolled on campus. "I want to see how Tadase asks you out. Plus, I need to pee." Despite saying that, Saaya continued to drink her water.

"Then quit wasting time standing out here and let's go already," Rima snapped, adjusting her school blazer. "Mother Nature is mad at me today, and I don't want this stupid school uniform to do something I don't want it to do," she said, using a spare hair tie to pull back her huge mass of wavy hair before it got raped by the wind. Saaya smirked at the thought of Rima's skirt flying up and shoved her half-empty water bottle into her bag as she took quick, long strides to the school, then slowed down because of the fact that Rima's short legs and refusal to break a sweat at all caused her to lag behind.

After doing their business in the bathroom, which involved less peeing and more hair-fixing, the three girls strolled out of the bathroom and down the main hall, where a certain boy made them all halt suddenly.

"There he is!" Yaya whisper-shouted. "_Ohmygawd_, do you think he's going to ask her now?"

"Shut up," Saaya muttered, the fair skin on her cheeks flushing a light pink at the sight of Tadase Hotori talking to his friends in the hallway. One of those friends, a tall boy with long, violet hair pointed to the girls, wearing a smile on his face as though he just heard something funny. Tadase turned around and gave them the same friendly smile he gave to everyone as he waved a hello.

"He's totally going to ask!" Yaya squealed in Rima's ear. However, Tadase made no show of doing anything besides saying "Hi" to Rima as he went back to conversing with his friend.

"That's strange," Saaya said, sounding more chipper than she was before. "It doesn't look like he's going to ask you." Rima tried to hold back her shock and remained nonchalant. Why wasn't he asking her? Didn't he know that unless he asked her now, she wouldn't say yes?

Maybe he was shy. Yes, that's it. 'Guys are hopeless', her mother had once told her. Sometimes they just needed a small push in the right direction. Luckily, Rima was an excellent liar and quick thinker. Rima frowned for a second, and quickly made a show of grabbing her phone and pretending to check it for messages.

"Oh," she said, feigning surprise as she looked at her phone's wallpaper, which was a picture of her and her mother on their summer trip to Fiji…three years ago. "It turns out that he _did_ text me last night." Before either of the other girls could check her phone to see it for themselves, Rima quickly locked it and slid it back in her purse. "No wonder he's ignoring me. He thinks _I'm_ ignoring him by not replying to him."

"Well why didn't you reply to him?" Saaya asked, looking at Rima suspiciously.

Rima rolled her eyes as though the answer was obvious. "I'm too busy to check my phone twenty-four/seven like _some_ people. He's been texting me for quite sometime now but I can only reply to him so many times. No wonder he's a little bit miffed." Saaya nodded, as though she understood what it was like to be too busy to talk to the most popular boy in school, and Rima congratulated herself for being such a naturally great actress.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Yaya asked, trying not to look hurt and wondering why her friend didn't tell her about any of this when they were gossiping about boys just the other night. "Go talk to him!"

Rima sighed, and pretended to think about it. "I guess I should explain to him what happened. I mean, it would be bad if he continued to ignore me just be cause of some misunderstanding." She turned to look at both her friends. "You guys wouldn't mind if I—"

"GO!" Yaya said while at the same time Saaya mumbled a "Yeah, whatever." Pleased with herself, Rima quickly strolled over to where Tadase was with his friend.

"Hello Rima," Tadase gave her the same warm smile that he always had on everyday. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks." Rima pretended that she didn't notice Tadase's tall friend stifling his laughter as he looked back and forth between the two of them. _What's his problem?_ Rima thought as she directed her attention to Tadase. "Tadase, I was wondering if we could have a moment to talk." She gave the tall, violet haired boy a look that usually made other people feel awkward and walking in the other direction. However, the boy just gave her a bemused grin and remained right where he was.

"Well, sure." Tadase gave her that same, warm smile of his. "What is it that you wanted to talk about?" Rima continued to glare at the taller boy, who apparently didn't get the hint that she wanted to talk to Tadase _alone_.

"Don't mind me," he said to her, annoying Rima even more.

_Fine, do whatever you want_, she thought and looked back at Tadase, giving him a large, fake grin. She didn't know what it was about him, but whenever Tadase would smile, everyone else would smile, too; he was contagious. Rima, however, forgot how to smile a long time ago. She occasionally had a fake grin plastered onto her face whenever she needed to, and the closest thing she had to a real smile was a sardonic smirk that she would only flash on rare occasions.

"I wanted to talk to you about the Fall Ball," Rima said, and tried to prevent her ego from bruising when she saw Tadase's smile drop.

"Oh, you heard the rumors, too?" Before Rima could say anything, Tadase beat her right to it. "I'm sorry Rima, but I have no idea who started all that stuff about you and me. Believe me, I have nothing to do with it. This morning I found my inbox flooding with alerts that were tagging you and me together and I don't even—"

"I don't care about the rumors," Rima said, cutting him off. "That's not what I came here to talk to you about. I just wanted to let you know that the Fall Ball is coming up, though you don't really need a reminder for that, and you should ask me to be your date."

Tadase's tall friend gave her a strange look. "Is that your attempt at asking him? Because it's kind of pathetic in comparison to other stuff girls have done—"

"Was I talking to you?" she snapped, and gave him the iciest glare she could muster. She felt victorious once she noticed him avert his eyes in the other direction.

"I'm sorry Rima, I don't think I understand your question." Tadase gave her a confused look. "Are you asking me to the dance or—"

"I said," Rima huffed, hating having to repeat her self, "that I think _you_ should ask me to the Fall Ball, since I don't have a date yet and it doesn't seem that you have one either—"

"Wait a minute," Tadase's stupid friend cut in again and Rima felt the urge to smack him with her purse. "You're asking him…to _ask_ you?" He looked at her as though she was something that came from outer space. "Is this some sort of joke?"

Rima gave him a blank stare. "I don't joke," she said flatly. Of course _she_ wasn't going to ask Tadase to the dance. Rima liked to believe that chivalry wasn't dead and that men still had the decency and the balls to ask girls out themselves, even if they did need a small push in the right direction once in a while.

The tall boy laughed. "Then you sound pretty desperate to me."

Rima's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. "_I beg your pardon_?" Desperate? How dare he call her desperate! Did he not know who she was? "Just who do you think you _are_?"

The boy held out his hand, as if he expected her to shake it. "Nagihiko Fuji—"

"That was a rhetorical question, I honestly don't care who the hell you are," she snapped at him, and turned away to look back at Tadase. "So are you going to ask me or not?"

Tadase blinked. "Ask you… You mean, ask you to the dance?" Rima resisted the urge to give him one of her infamous eye rolls. "Um, I'm sorry Rima, but I'm not going to the dance."

Rima blinked once. "Forgive me, I didn't quite catch that. Did you just say that you're _not going_?" Before Tadase could compose a reply, Rima asked, "How can you not be going to the Fall Ball? It's the _Fall Ball_. You're the student council president, you're practically in charge of the entire thing!"

Tadase looked surprised to see her react in such a way. "I'm really sorry, but I have a family thing and—"

"If you already have a date then just cancel her and go with me," Rima demanded, not buying the whole "family" excuse.

Tadase looked at her, and hesitated right before asking, "E-excuse me? Rima, I'm not lying. I really can't make it." Before Rima could attack him with her words, he said, "Look, I have to go to the auditorium. The student council is presenting something for the announcements today. I'll talk to you some other time, alright?" Nagihiko Fuji— shrugged and followed Tadase down the hall, talking to him about something that Rima couldn't hear. She did, however, notice how Nagihiko Fuji— continued to look back at her and frown, which wasn't the kind of thing most people did when they saw her.

Rima tried not to look to shocked or feel too humiliated as she watched their retreating figures. Quickly recollecting herself, she turned and marched right back to her friends, who hadn't moved from their spots since she left. They both looked at her expectantly, waiting for her spill the details.

Rima sighed and tried to maintain her cool façade, though she was raging and furious and absolutely humiliated on the inside. "Well, we cleared everything up, but when I brought up the Fall Ball, he said that he had a 'family thing' and wasn't going."

Saaya raised an eyebrow and gave the shorter girl a suspicious look. "That's an excuse if I've ever heard one."

"What kind of family thing?" Yaya asked, confusion adorning her round face.

"There is no family thing. He just made that up so that his friend wouldn't know about his…" She pretended to look around for eavesdroppers, as though what she was about to say was very important. "…His _secret_."

"He's already dating someone, isn't he?" Saaya asked, looking disappointed.

"Something like that—" Rima's eyes sparkled as she came up with the perfect lie, "—but it's not what you think."

Yaya's eyes went wide. "_Tellmetellmetellme—_"

Saaya glared at her. "Yaya, shut up!" Yaya quieted down and Saaya turned away from the younger girl to look anxiously at Rima. "What is it about?"

"Well Prince Charming isn't all what he's cracked up to be." Rima paused for effect. "As turns out, Tadase Hotori _plays for the other team_."

Saaya's mouth hung open in shock while Yaya frowned. "What, you mean he used to go to a different school district or something?"

Rima rolled her eyes, and tried to find a simple term to explain the situation so that even someone like Yaya would be able to understand it. "_No_, I mean, Tadase's so deep in the closet he's practically found Narnia!"

Yaya's eyes grew wider, if that was even possible. " _No way_!"

"How do you even know that?" Saaya asked, refusing to accept the fact that her long-time crush was gay.

"Well it's always been so obvious, hasn't it?" Rima asked, looking at Saaya as though she was surprised that it took so long for her to figure it out. "He's never had a girlfriend and always rejects dates, from even the most attractive girls in school." Rima didn't bother to mention that she was one of those girls. "He never hangs out with anyone but athletics guys."

"That's because he's is on the baseball and soccer team," Saaya pointed out, still unsure about everything her friend was telling her.

Yaya snorted. "Well, duh, of course he is. If jocks weren't so gross, wouldn't _you_ join the team just to stare at a bunch of ripped guys running around?" Yaya broke out into a huge grin. "I always thought that it was strange how he's never shown an interest in girls—"

"He's the student council president and has more extracurricular activities than the number of handbags I own." Saaya was starting look incredibly miffed as she dared to look down at Rima. "Look, I've known Tadase since I was in elementary, and it's really bitchy and low of you to start a rumor like that. Just because he made up some excuse to not go with you—"

"Look at the pot calling the kettle black," Rima said, her voice colder than ice. "You weren't even listening in on our conversation. I could go out with him if I wanted to, but I'm in no mood to be some fag's beard. Just because no guy wants to take you seriously enough to be your boyfriend doesn't mean that you need to take out your insecurities on me. That's petty and pathetic." Rima stuck her nose up in the air while Saaya stared at her, speechless. She had always seen the Ice Bitch (Which was name several kids referred to her as since she embraced it so well) use her words to make other losers upset enough to drop out of school, but she never thought that she'd be on the other end of the stick like this.

Saaya heard something make a beeping noise beside her and glared at Yaya, who was in the midst of telling the entire world about Tadase. "What the _fuck_, Yaya. Don't you ever know when to shut your trap? Do you really need to tell the entire fucking world about some lame-ass rumor some bitch made up?" Yaya looked up at the redhead nervously, but quickly looked back down at her phone and finished composing the message she was writing since she was more scared of what Rima would say if she stopped. Yaya wasn't a mean person, she was just incredibly careless and hardly thought of how some of her actions would affect others. She didn't think that it was wrong of her to tell people about Tadase being homosexual. After all, Rima said it was true, and who was she to say that he _wasn't_ gay?

Saaya turned her glare towards Rima, no longer afraid of what the shorter girl would say to her. "You may think that you're so superior to the rest of us just because your ego is bigger than your weight_,_ but you _seriously_ need to get over yourself." She marched away from the Ice Bitch and her freshman pet, bumping into a tall, blue-eyed blonde on her way.

"I'm sorry," the blonde said, and ignored the fact that Saaya was too upset to say anything back as she stormed down the hall. The blonde didn't take her eyes off of Yaya and Rima. If anyone bothered to look at the quiet, invisible girl for more than a second, they would've realized how strange she looked. She was wearing the school uniform like all the other girls, except hers followed the school's dress guidelines word for word, as though she spent time reading it and making sure it was just like the picture in the book.

The odd girl's red skirt was exactly at knee length, and she wore the blazer, the tie and the long-sleeved blouse all together and put together as according to the handbook, even though a lot of people thought that wearing it all was just too much. She was donned in nylon stockings, something that all of the girls at Seiyo quit doing once they reached middle school. Her hair was done in a bizarre way; it was big and curled at the tips, looking like she stepped right off set of a production of _Hairspray_. There was an odd-looking clip in her hair, some strange green stone that clashed horrible with her outfit. At one look at her, you can tell she was out of place from the other posh and rich girls in the school.

Rima pointed all this stuff out to Yaya, who agreed that the girl did in fact look like she got lost on her way to the Catholic school on the other side of town. The girl seemed to know that they were talking about her, but she didn't look uncomfortable or awkward, and continued to stand there, staring right at the two girls, particularly Rima.

"What's her problem?" Yaya asked, starting to get uncomfortable with all the staring, yet her mind wouldn't forget about what just happened with Saaya. Would she ever forgive them? They've had petty spats before, but everyone knew about how Saaya felt about Tadase. It wasn't like she was going to easily forget about what happened just now.

Rima just shrugged, not that bothered by it, clearly used to being stared at all the time. "Probably one of Tadase's fans who's P.O.'d at us for saying all that stuff about him."

"I was talking about Saaya, but I guess that could be used for the both of them." Yaya picked at her nails nervously. "Do you think she'll stay mad for long?"

Rima rolled her eyes. "Who cares? Now let's go to the auditorium. If I'm late to the announcements again, I'll probably drop dead during another one of Nikaidou's lectures about tardiness. I don't have time to play the staring game with some home-schooled freak." Yaya opened her mouth to say something but was cut off. "_Come on_, you might catch that girl's bad fashion sense and be ugly forever." It was a lame and immature comeback but Rima wasn't in the mood to wait around any longer. Saaya had put her into a rotten mood since she hated causing scenes like that.

The blue-eyed stranger merely frowned as she watched the two girls' retreating figures. "How can someone be so ugly?" she murmured to herself, her wide blue eyes never looking away even after the two girls strolled out the hall.

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><p><strong>AN:** This chapter is long and not much happened, I know. This first chapter is mainly to set a background and give you guys a chance to see what's what and how I make the story work in my head. If I just jumped into the story, it wouldn't be as good and the characters wouldn't be as fleshed out. This is basically a base that set everything up for the rest of the story, which truly starts in the next chapter.

^^(Don't you just hate it when authors say stuff like that?)

I wanted to have a female be the beast, because the thing about girls, especially teenage girls, is that they're _vicious_. I'm not trying to be sexist by saying that girls are vixens and snakes who lure in innocent men with their seductiveness. Guys are terrible, too, and Alex Flinn is pretty great for being able to portray that terrible-ness in a teenage guy and have it still make sense. I'm pretty sure if I wrote this with having one of the SC! guys being the beast, it probably would've been really, really stupid. I also wanted to try something new, because IDK if I've ever seen someone write a "Beauty and the Beast" fic using the girl as the Beast and the guy as the Beauty. Plus, Nagihiko and Rima fit this scenario perfectly, don't you think?

I made Rima a vicious bitch, because to be honest, I totally thought she was a cold bitch when she was first introduced in the series. I absolutely _hated_ her. Despite the fact that I love her now, I'm still pretty inspired with the way Peach-Pit made Rima. She's a bitch, but she has her reasons and hides them by putting up a bitchy façade. I plan on doing that exact thing in this story. Rima's a bitch, but she has her reasons, and I kind of inserted some of those reasons in this chapter, although it's really subtle and a lot of it is more of the in-between-the-lines kind of stuff. If you picked up on it then you're awesome.

The rest of the SC! characters act kind of OOC, but that's because the setting and the situations are totally different, so I kind of altered their characters a bit, though it's A really, _really_ tiny bit, I swear! Their characters are still intact, but just slightly different mostly because they're teenagers and for other reasons that shall be revealed later on in the story.

Whew. Now that I've gotten all of that written down, let me just end this by say _thank you _for reading, and that any kind of feedback or concrit is greatly appreciated. :)


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Decided not to write my English essay and upload this instead. It's a monster of a chapter, but it's better than nothing. I'm sorry for taking so long to update, but I was so ridiculously happy at the amount of feedback I got from the first chapter. Nothing had even happened and people liked it enough to review/favorite/alert. :3 This chapter is only a tiny improvement. Mostly just more characterization, but if you squint a little towards the end you might notice that there's some actual plot trying to get through and make itself apparent in the chapter.

This is **unbeta'd**. I'd appreciate it if any mistakes I missed (I know there must be some in here) were pointed out. It's hard to edit something this big and notice everything on my own. :/

**In the following chapter, there is going to be a few characters exhibiting homophobia. It's not extreme, and in no way does it reflect my personal views. It's just a part of the story. The characters will also use profane language. If this offends you, then click on that back button and don't bother reading any further.**

* * *

><p><em>Beauty needs an animal to breathe.<em>  
>-Pierce the Veil; <em>The Sky Under the Sea<em>

* * *

><p><em>People hate me because I'm pretty. I know that may seem like a really shallow thing to say, but it's true.<em>

_Jealousy brings out the worst in everyone, and I'm the perfect prey for the jealousy of my unattractive peers. I can kind of understand where they're coming from, but if they'd realize that with all that time and energy they spend hating me, they could be doing something worthwhile instead, such as investing in cosmetic surgery._

_So the point is, it's not_ _my _fault_ that I'm a pretty. Everyone else happens to be ugly, and you honestly can't_ _hate _me_ for pointing out the truth._

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><p><em><strong>TADAGAY HOMORI'S "EXTRA CURRICULAR" ACTIVITES!<strong>_

The words were written over the infamous "Tadagay Homori" picture that had already been seen by nearly everyone in Seiyo Academy, and anyone who hadn't already seen it online would definitely see it the following school day. A crowd of students hung around a giant, blown up picture that someone printed off the internet and hung up in the main hall. No one had any idea who made the photo or who managed to sneak in and hang the picture up in the hall without being noticed. The obviously photoshopped picture of Tadase giving a blowjob to an erect penis was outrageous online, and it took things to another level when everyone saw it on their way to first period. Some people were laughing, some were disgusted but didn't say anything, and others were being ridiculously overdramatic about it.

"But he was _so perfect_. I can't believe it!" a freshman girl cried, tears in her eyes as she was comforted by other Tadase admirers. "How can he do this to us?"

"I always thought he was strange," a guy from the baseball team muttered to one of his teammates. "Sometimes, I could feel his eyes on me in locker rooms, you know, when I was _changing_."

Kuukai pushed his way through the large crowd, until he got in front of the picture, attempting to block the view. "Who the _fuck_ would do something like this?" A few people stared wide-eyed at him, shocked by the profane, angry words that left his mouth. Anyone who had ever met Kuukai knew that the jock got riled up often, although it was usually right before a big game. Seeing him furious was not a pretty sight, and a few people looked away in shame, not having the courage to meet his outraged expression. Others, however, didn't stop jeering at the picture and continued making cruel comments.

Nagihiko soon joined him, his long violet hair whipping around as he got to the front of the crowd and stood in front of the photo. "Kuukai, go get a teacher or something," he growled as he ripped a corner of the picture off the wall. Kuukai gave a stiff nod in return, and sending one last glare to the crowd right before he ran towards the direction of the front office. Nagihiko was probably one of the most patient people in the entire school, but seeing something as unjustly cruel like this happening, to _Tadase _nonetheless, made him start seeing red. "What the hell is the matter with you people? Do you really think something like this is funny?" Nagihiko had a temper that was worst than anyone's. Although it took _a lot_ to push him over the edge, once he was this angry, there was no knowing what he'd do. Some people were smart enough to back away from the crowd when they saw the two seething jocks, but not everyone did.

"Nagihiko, go back to your boyfriend," a junior whom Nagihiko recognized as a member of the football team jeered at him. "Isn't Tadagay waiting for you?"

Nagihiko's eyes flashed and just as he was about to lunge at them, someone grabbed his arm, yanking him back. Tadase had somehow managed to get to Nagihiko without being noticed by the large crowd, and appeared strangely calm and poised. "Forget about it," he said an uncharacteristically small voice said, and Nagihiko begrudgingly held back, turning around to face the only reason why the football team didn't have an injured player. Tadase stood by him, a solemn expression his face, and had nothing to smile about for once. "Really, it's not worth getting in trouble for." Nagihiko gave him a confused look, because if anyone had the right to be angry and lash out, it was Tadase. But for all the years that Nagihiko had known Tadase, he had never once seen the blond angrily lash out at anyone. It just wasn't in his nature, and he wasn't about to start now when half the school was against him.

"These assholes need to shut the fuck up," Nagihiko growled, getting even angrier when the taunting and name calling increase once they saw Tadase. Nagihiko wanted nothing more than to prove that he was worthy of being Tadase's friend; the blond had done so much for him, and it was hard to respect his friend's wishes when Tadase was clearly being affected by the harassment.

"Hey there Tadagay! Finally decided to come out of your closet?"

"I'm not surprised that you need one of your boyfriends to defend you, Homori."

"Are you too queer to face us yourself?"

"I can't believe we all voted for a fag like him to be our class President!"

"What's going on here?" The loud, voice boomed throughout the hall, silencing the students. Yuu Nikaidou, the robotics teacher, who was well-known for his clumsy and cheerful personality, glared down at the crowd of kids with a type of look they didn't know he was capable of delivering. Nikaidou was bumbling and dorky, with his wild hair and crooked glasses, but at that moment he looked like a complete stranger. The stony, grave expression that thinly masked his controlled fury looked frighteningly unnatural on the usually careless teacher. "I said, _what is going on here_?" he shouted, making a good number of the students to flinch at the sound of the unfamiliar tone he was using. Getting yelled at by two jocks was one thing, but the students of Seiyo Academy didn't know how to react to Nikaidou's harshness. A lot of the same people who were jeering at Tadase earlier suddenly had some sense knocked into them and kept quiet, knowing what it would cost them if they talked back to a teacher.

Nikaidou's gaze fell on Nagihiko, who was tearing of the last remainder of the poster off the bulletin, and wadding it all up in his hands. Silently, Nagihiko handed the wad to the teacher, who crumpled it up immediately. "Get to class," he said, his words echoing through the quiet hall.

The kids dispersed from the spot, not daring to utter another word, and scurried away to their classrooms. Nikaidou sighed as he massaged his temples, feeling a migraine about to form. "Tadase, do you want to come to the office and…" He trailed off, not sure what to say. Nikaidou had dealt with bullying before, but something like this was strange. Tadase was a popular kid, a model student, and not to mention president of the junior class. Usually the blond would take care of someone getting bullied, not get bullied himself. "Well, want to come, talk about this?"

Tadase shrugged, trying to appear aloof and uncaring, although the act was easily seen through by both Nikaidou and Nagihiko. "Some kids were being stupid, there's really not much to talk about. Besides, I have a math test to take." This was odd, Nikaidou and Nagihiko both noted. Tadase wasn't the type of person to let injustice slide. Nagihiko gave his friend a look of concern, hoping that Tadase would at least _look_ at him, but the blond was too busy staring at the now blank bulletin board with an unreadable expression on his usually smiling face.

"Do you have any idea who did this?" Nikaidou asked. He hated seeing his students look so defeated, and wanted to make sure that there still was some justice in the school, despite the fact that it was _high school_ and things like bullying and the occasional snide comments were a regular thing, whether he wanted to admit it or not. He remembered what bullying was like back when he was an adolescent, but this was something different than shoving a timid kid in a locker. "You can schedule a meeting with the guidance counselor, or principal, if you'd like. It's one hundred percent confidential." Tadase shrugged again, already knowing how the school board dealt with bullying.

"The photo went viral online last night," Nagihiko said, remembering how shocked he was when he got an email with the link to it. "Some anonymous user posted it after the rumor about him spread." Nagihiko's frown deepened when he saw Tadase shift uncomfortably and look the other way.

Nikaidou frowned, wondering what he was talking about. "Rumor? You mean about… When did you hear the rumor?"

Tadase let out a tired sigh. "I heard about it in the lunchroom yesterday." Nikaidou looked at him, surprised at how quickly rumors spread. The kid heard about it less than a day ago and he was already being tormented by his peers? Were these spoiled prep school kids or savage animals?

"Tell him about the guy during lunch who—"

"Nagihiko, _no_. Don't bring it up."

"Tadase, he practically _tackled_ you to the ground—"

"Wait, _what_?" Nikaidou looked at Tadase in shock. "Someone physically assaulted you yesterday? Why weren't any of the teachers notified? If this was on the school campus, someone should've been monitoring!"

"The teachers don't care," Nagihiko growled. "Just last week Tadase was their favorite student now all of a sudden some loser spreads a rumor and they turn a blind eye to everything!" Nikaidou felt foolish and naive for having such high expectations for the Seiyo Academy staff. He knew too well that teachers were still regular people, corrupted with flaws and hatred inside, no matter how many of them claimed to "always support their students." Nikaidou knew that several of the teachers did turn a blind eye for certain reasons (Not that he was naming any names), but he always thought that everyone loved Tadase. He remembered having a discussion about the kid with several of Tadase's other teachers, and they all said nothing but good things about him.

_Can people really be that cruel? _Nikaidou thought to himself, even though the answer was obvious and he was mostly humoring himself.

"I'm sorry, I need to go to class. I'm already late for my test." Tadase said goodbye to them and trudged down the hall, ignoring the looks some people gave him as he shuffled past.

"I'm going to bring this matter up with the principal," Nikaidou said, his voice firm and official. "I'm very disappointed to hear that no one told me about this. We absolutely do not condone any kind of bullying or harassment at this school." He turned to Nagihiko. "Do you have any idea who would start this kind of thing?"

Nagihiko shrugged dejectedly. "I can't think of anyone who ever disliked Tadase, much less hated him enough to do this." He lifted his gaze to focus on the empty bulletin board, and felt a guilty pang in his chest. Some friend he was. After everything Tadase had done for him, Nagihiko was still completely powerless and unable to do anything to defend him. "He... He doesn't deserve this."

Nikaidou gave him a grim look. "No one does." Nikaidou wanted to think that this was one giant misunderstanding, and that no one was actually cruel enough to go out of their way to hurt someone as kind as Tadase. What kind of person even does that?

* * *

><p><em>One Week Later<em>

"You're in my way," Rima said to the nerd standing in front of her locker, bored out of her mind. The little kid, who looked like he still belonged in elementary school (He was shorter than _her_, and that's saying something), looked up at her timidly, his round, Harry Potter-esque glasses fogging up.

"S-sorry," he muttered and walked away, his blue plaid shorts riding up awkwardly with each step. Rima tried not to sneer, and focused her attention on opening her locker. The little kid, however, had other ideas, and stopped after taking a few steps away from her. "Uh… um, Rima?" he squeaked, and she pretended not to hear him. "Rima, c-can I ask you a question?"

"Do it quickly, I'm going to be late for class," she said, opening her locker and investing most of her energy into looking for her notebook and trying to avoid glancing at the little dork's sweaty and nervous face.

"W-well, my name is S-Seiichiro and I-I'm new here to Seiyo. I-I really think you're… I think y-you're really… um…"

"Unless you plan on wasting my time I suggest you spit out whatever it is you planned on telling me or just do me a favor and leave now," Rima spat, getting annoyed at the smaller kid who was fumbling pathetically over his words.

Something in Seiichiro's eyes flashed, but Rima assumed it was his glasses' lens' reflection. "Iwaswonderingifyouwouldgotot heFallBallwithme," he blurted out, wiping his sweaty palms on his shorts. "I think you're beautiful and I've liked you ever since I came here and—"

Rima sighed, visibly rolling her eyes. "I've heard all this already, and before you start reciting a poem or serenading me, let me just tell you that I'm not interested."

Instead of crying or walking away dejectedly like she had expected him to, Seiichiro merely looked up at her. "I-I gather up the courage to ask you out and you reject me so coldly." He licked his lips nervously. "Can I p-please know why?"

Rima almost laughed, until she realized that he wasn't joking. "Are you serious? I don't have time to count the ways of how I _don't _love you." Rima scoffed. "I mean, look at you. You're smaller than I am, which is really saying something. You wear glasses that look like they were purchased in 1979, Doesn't matter what the hipsters tell you, anything that wasn't made in this century is dorky and lame, _not_ vintage. Also, you can't seriously think that bowl-cuts are stylish, do you?" She then gestured towards his uniform, which looked like he got it from the kid's section in a size too small. "And if this is how you wear your uniform then I'm afraid to see how you dress _normally_."

Seiichiro frowned, visibly upset. "So you're not going out with me because of how I _look_?" Rima wasn't sure how to reply to that. The way he worded it, it made her sound like she was shallow—Which she kind of was—but Rima just liked to think that when it comes to guys, she had to make wise decisions. Guys were like gardens, her mother once told her. They're nice to look at, but difficult to handle. You have get rid of all the weeds in your garden and make sure that they don't block your view of the tulips and roses. Seiichiro was a weed, and weeds were unwanted, it was as simple as that.

"I don't have time to answer such ridiculous ques—"

"I'm asking you to give me a chance," Seiichiro asked her. Rima tried not to visibly seethe when she realized that he had the gall to interrupt _her_. Who the hell did he think he was?

"I'm not handsome, I'll admit, but I have a pure heart and will treat you like a lady, I swear. For once in your life, Rima, go out with someone because of who they are, not because of what they are." Rima's eyebrows furrowed, unable to understand what he was saying, even though his stutter had conveniently disappeared. "If you'd like, we could spend some time beforehand so that you can get to know me better, if it makes you uncomfortable—"

"Look you delusional twat, you have no chance with me," she snapped, her fury present in her words. "Leave me alone and go bother someone else with your 'heart of gold' spiel." Didn't this guy know when to quit?

Apparently not. "Rima, you don't even have a date, so why won't you—"

Rima finally had enough. "Look, you're short, lanky, geeky, ugly, greasy, lame, annoying, and a pest. Are those enough reasons for you?"

Seiichiro actually looked angry for a moment, then quickly reverted back into his dorky state. "You don't even know me—"

"I know enough to know that you would be the last person I'd ever be seen with," Rima snapped. "Get out of my face, brat."

Seiichiro sighed, and gave her a look that resembled pity. "I tried to give you a chance," he muttered as he turned away from her, and Rima rolled her eyes, deciding that the kid was in special ed. and must've been some kind of retard.

"That was unnecessarily cruel." Rima turned around to see a guy stuffing a couple of notebooks into his locker, not even looking in her direction. He had a gym bag slung over his shoulder, and Rima noticed the Seiyo Academy basketball team's logo on it, and recognized him as Kirishima Fuyuki, a second-string player. She absent-mindedly wondered when all the jocks started hating her. Sure, she made it quite apparent that she wasn't that fond of them, but they still knew better than to be rude to her. First that freak with the long hair insulted her in front of Tadase (_Or should I say "Tadagay?" _she thought to herself, trying not to laugh at how some small white lie she started became a huge debacle in such a short amount of time.), and now this kid she never once spoke to was making snide comments about her private life.

It wouldn't have been so annoying if it weren't for the fact that he wasn't even talking _to_ her, but _about_ her, muttering under his breath as though she was deaf and dumb, like she didn't even exist. Rima had a low tolerance for people who didn't have enough balls to be straight-forwardly honest and didn't the balls to talk to someone half their size to her face.

"If you wish to file a complaint, then get in line," Rima told him, with sweetness that so fake you could hear it from a mile away. She scoffed when she noticed his face burn red in embarrassment.

"Um, what?" She stood there, her arms crossed impatiently, unable to wait for the boy to recollect himself and form a proper response.

"You know what you said. Didn't your mother ever teach you manners?" Rima glanced down at her nails briefly right before adding, "It's impolite and rude to gossip about affairs that have nothing to do with you."

"Like you're one to talk," Kirishima said quietly under his breath, yet not quietly enough for Rima to have missed it.

"Oh please, if you have something to say then just say it. Otherwise, I'll be heading to class. I haven't got all day, you know."

Kirishima huffed and glanced at her. "The poor kid gathers up all his courage to confess to you, and you shoot him down so hard and fast that sooner or later you're going to be convicted of murder." Rima held back the urge to roll her eyes. Of all the things to whine about, he chooses the way she handles the dorky freshmen who don't know better than to come confess to her?

"Someone needed to tell him sooner or later," Rima said. "He can't just walk around asking out anyone he pleases. There are rules for these kinds of things." Kirishima dared to roll his eyes, and Rima sent him a glare that seemed to have no affect on him. She started to wonder if she was losing her touch and habitually picked at her nails, chipping them, which was an nervous action she thought she had grown out of years ago. She curled her delicate fingers into a tight fist, reminding herself that bad habits are unbecoming, and no one loves a girl with unattractive nails._  
><em>

"Do you realize that you're the reason why a lot of people hate high school?" Rima bit her tongue and resisted the urge to laugh cruelly. He wasn't serious, was he? "There are actual organizations that are trying to put a stop to bullies like you."

"It's no polite to call a lady rude names," she said coldly, her teeth grinding against one another as she resisted the urge to slap him across his face, no matter how good she imagined it would feel.

Kirishima didn't hesitate making a snaky reply. "It's also typically impolite to call someone a 'pest' after they confessed to you."

Rima narrowed her eyes at him. "You should stop spending so much time eavesdropping and focus more on honing your almost nonexistent basketball skills. Or simply revert back to being a quiet little nobody. I'm sure you'll be much more likable that way." Turning swiftly on her heel, she walked away from him dramatically, silently cursing the dumb jock in her head. A part of her, the small part that she tried to ignore ever since she was young, was hurt, but she tried to cast that off as worry—something that she had been doing for a lot that week.

There was also another tiny, insecure part of her that thought, _How come she didn't have a date yet?_ She was still incredibly pretty; no witch had turned her into a frog yet. So why was it so hard for her to find her prince? Not that she needed one, but it was still so strange. She never had problems with getting guys' attention. They practically flocked around her ever since those days on the playground in elementary school.

That small part of her started nagging at her again. It kept on asking, _"What if the dumb jock was right?"_ First Tadase and Naija (or whatever his name was) acted weirdly around her, and then Saaya blew a gasket over something that should've been a hilarious joke, and now this jerk was treating her like she was white trash.

What the fuck was happening to the social structure of the world? Rima was slipping, her reputation slowly falling apart at the seams. She could almost feel the crown slip off of her pretty blonde head. But Rima was determined to change all that at the Fall Ball, where she would be a fairy tale queen and make everyone who ever doubted her become freaking _enchanted_ by her beauty and class.

* * *

><p>Yaya's eyes kept threatening to close, and it took every once of strength the keep them open and alert to what was going on around her. Something that was nearly impossible since her teacher's lecture on cell division made her want to drop dead on the lab table. What was the point high school biology anyways? It's not like knowing the differences between plant and animal cells was going to help her in life.<p>

Just when she was about to succumb to her daydreams and give up on trying to keep her eyes wide open, something kicked her out of her breezy daydreams and back into the harsh world of third period freshman biology,_ literally_. She felt the unpleasant, and unfortunately _familiar_, feeling of her lab partner's foot making direct contact with her shin.

She whirled over to her right to face said lab partner, who was none other than the uptight freshman class president, Kairi Sanjo. He was busy writing down his notes on the lecture in the correct Cornell format in his meticulous, neat penmanship that Yaya couldn't duplicate on her own even if his handwriting was an easy-to-download font online. Even though he was fully engrossed in the lecture, he could sense that Yaya was most likely giving him one of her "Why are you so mean?" looks, which was often delivered with a small pout and a loud whine. Before Yaya was even given the chance to whine, though, her teacher had thankfully stopped lecturing right at that moment, and was in the process of grabbing the stack of worksheets that were meant to be passed out to the class.

Without even waiting for her to ask, Kairi slid his notebook over to Yaya's side of the lab table. "You copy my notes while I get started on the worksheet, and you can call me later tonight if you have any questions over it," Kairi told her, and Yaya quickly slipped out of her pout and gave him the look of gratitude that he had gotten too used to. It was easy to label Yaya as the worst lab partner ever, but Kairi never really minded. Even though he could never admit outright, he liked the fact that Yaya was genuinely impressed by him and not just his work ethics. She was also the first lab partner he ever had who would actually want to talk to him even when school work wasn't involved. Kairi knew that Yaya's freeloading attitude only lasted in the first half-hour of class, and with some encouragement, she really did start trying, which was more than what Kairi could say about most of previous class partners.

"I really hope that he's not going to give us any homework during Fall Ball weekend," Yaya chirped as she read through Kairi's notes, somehow being able to understand cell division better when it was explained through her partner's words instead of her teacher's long lectures. Kairi just shrugged, already half-way done with the first part of the worksheet. He didn't usually give much response to Yaya's pointless chatter, but still listened nonetheless, which was something that Yaya, without realizing it herself, appreciated. "How is the prep. for the Ball going, by the way?"

"Really good, actually. The junior class pres. managed to hire a professional party planner who flew in all the way from Beverly Hills for this. Even though it's his first time being in charge of the event, Hotori's really great at handling his position and leading us. Some of the upperclassmen have even said that this year's ball was going to be one of the best because of him." Yaya's expression paled at the mention of Tadase, and a sick, unpleasant feeling grew within her chest, similar to the one she got last Halloween when she stole her younger brother's candy and didn't say anything even after Tsubasa started bawling.

"That sounds totally terrific! I don't really know Tadase, or, um, anyone else on the student council besides you…" She tried to shove away the uncomfortable, growing feeling in her chest by adding, "Knowing you, though, I bet it's going to be the best Fall Ball Seiyo's ever had." She pretended not to notice the light pink blush that arouse on Kairi's cheeks after she said it.

"Oh, uh, well thanks, but honestly, I didn't do that much besides help organize a few of the committees… It was mostly the upperclassmen that did all the work. Hotori, especially." Kairi adjusted his glasses, a dorky habit of his that Yaya couldn't help but adore, and said, "I feel bad for him, though."

At that, Yaya could feel her heart start to race as she panicked. She didn't want to admit it even to herself, but she never regretted anything more than helping spread the rumor that Tadase was gay, especially once the "Tadagay" picture started going viral and even blown up in the main hall. At first it was kind of cool, because everyone found it funny and _she_ helped start it, until she heard a group of girls in the bathroom talk about how Tadase couldn't even go to his locker or answer a problem in class without getting harassed. The damage was done, though, and saying anything now would just do _her_ damage. More than anything Yaya wished that she had listened to Saaya or better yet, simply had the guts to defy Rima. Even though Rima never actually _ordered_ her to do anything, it was pretty evident who wore the crown at Seiyo Academy. Yaya wondered if Rima would even still talk to her if she never spread the rumor, or simply give her the cold shoulder, like she was doing to Saaya.

"…ya. Yaya?" Another light kick to the shin brought her straight back to earth and she realized that she had spaced off again. Kairi gave her look, one that was a cross between puzzled and concerned, and Yaya could feel her face go red.

"S-sorry, I sort of just… uh, spaced?" She laughed nervously as she twirled a strand of her auburn hair. "You were saying?"

Kairi gave her another strange look, but continued on with the conversation. "Like I said, I feel bad for him. He's putting all this effort in the dance and he can't even attend." Kairi shrugged. "Apparently he already had a prior engagement with his family, so he won't even be able to see how much everyone is going to really enjoy the event he worked hard on planning."

"Oh, yeah," Yaya murmured in an uncharacteristically quiet tone. "Sucks."

"This is just my opinion, but I consider it to be a blessing in disguise. Everyone was expecting him and Rima Mashiro to go to the dance together." Kairi rolled his eyes, obviously not liking the idea. "Going to the Ball with a girl like her sounds like my idea of a nightmare."

This time, Yaya found a reason to cast away her guilt and give a seemingly justified pout. "Hey… Watch it. That's my friend you're talking about there." Yaya huffed. "Sure she's kind of hard to handle, and is sometimes out of line, but honestly she's a great friend."

For a moment, it looked like Kairi was going to actually call Yaya out on her obvious lie, but she was eternally grateful when he changed the subject without another word about the Ball or Rima.

* * *

><p>Rima checked her reflection in the mirror, and then re-checked it again three seconds later. The gorgeous image never changed, however, and was still perfect every time. Her curls were pulled back and pinned up, cascading down her back in neat, soft ringlets. Her soft, rose-colored gown glittered and fitted her perfectly. She had all the right accessories and the complimented her outfit the right way. She had spent a lot of time practicing how to walk and dance in her new heels, and she could possibly do a cartwheel in them right then if she wanted to. Her makeup couldn't be anymore perfect, and Rima knew that it wouldn't smudge no matter how much she fussed with it. Tonight was the Fall Ball. Tonight was her time to shine. Nothing could possibly go wrong.<p>

She took a deep breath, shut off her bedroom lights, and prepared herself the whole walking-down-the-stairs cliché that was in every teen movie, in which she would make her date breathless and awe-struck as she floated down the staircase in a graceful manner. She was just about to make her way down when she saw that her date and—she tried to ignore the pang in her chest when she noticed this—her mother were nowhere to be found. In the place of the people who matter was Amu Hinamori, the eighteen-year-old nanny/wannabe photographer who took her meager job too seriously. Rima began to regret setting her hopes high.

With a bittersweet smile that resembled pity too much, the nanny (If she could even be called that. The pink-haired punk girl was only a year older than Rima, and got paid to live in the mansion just so that someone would update Rima's playlist every weekend and keep track of all her magazine subscriptions.) held up the ESL camera in a professional manner. "Say chee—"

In a night meant for cheesiness (Excuse the pun) and cliches, Rima suddenly wasn't in the mood. "I swear on all my Jimmy Choos that you will be fired if you finish that phrase Hinamori." Before Rima could make any other threats, Amu snapped a picture, catching Rima's scowl right in time. The girl glared at the offensive object in her nanny's hands, which prompted Hinamori to take another one, the sound of the shutter echoing through the large halls of the Mashiro mansion.

"Your mom got caught up with some work," Amu said, her tone apologetic. Rima sniffed, disliking the fact that Amu could sense the young blonde's disappointment "She… she was really sad about not being able to make it, so she told me to take as many pictures as possible."

Rima huffed. "You don't have to baby me. You're not being paid to lie."

Amu paused, and took another picture. She looked down at the screen to see how it came out, frowning when she saw that Rima still looked less-than-thrilled in every take. "Smile, Rima. Or do you want me to wait for your date to arrive first?"

"The last thing I want to do is be photographed while making one of those awkward prom-night poses with my _escort_." Rima rolled her eyes at the thought, but then decided, "Since you keep on insisting, though, you may take _one_ photo of me pretending to look like I'm enjoying myself while standing at the top of my staircase."

Amu smiled while taking the picture, and gave a grin when she saw that Rima's lips actually did curl upward in the photo. "You look gorgeous."

"You're welcome," Rima replied, knowing that she probably made the poor girl's night with that small, insignificant gesture. The doorbell rang right then, the chime echoing through the large halls. Rima peered over the rail to get a look at the great big grandfather clock that was in the study room across the hall. He was six whole minutes late. Whatever. It's not like she was expecting much out of him anyways.

Amu had already opened the door right as Rima got to make her "grand entrance" down the staircase. Kuukai stood grinning at the door, corsage in hand, as Rima floated (Rima did not simply _walk_ on nights like these) down the stairs.

"You look beautiful," Kuukai told her as he handed Rima her corsage. Rima briefly wondered if he would even bother complimenting her if she wasn't his date, but then quickly decided not to dwell on it for too long. It's not like he was lying. She _was_ beautiful. Amu quickly handed Rima the boutonniere that she was supposed to give to her date, and then quickly made herself scarce. Rima wouldn't have been surprised if the pink-haired creeper was still hiding somewhere nearby, secretly taking pictures of the two students.

"Thanks again for agreeing to go out with me," Kuukai told her, a his wide, trademark grin on his face. "When Hoshina told me that she couldn't make it, I started freaking out, believe it or not. Normally I would just go stag with my bro Fujisaki, but he's working tonight." He gave Rima his arm, which she gingerly accepted while only paying half-attention to his babbling, and he led her over to the limo parked outside her house.

"Who's Fujisaki?" Rima wondered out loud. When Kukai started to explain, and then mentioned something about sports, Rima zoned out, deciding that she really didn't care.

"Oh, and heads up, Yaya's in a sour mood. Don't know why, and I'm not going to be the jerk who blames it on her uterus, but even so, she's been acting _really_ moody. She started being all strange when she found out you were my date, even after I explained it to her." Rima shrugged. So her two friends were both pissed at her because of the way she handled the boys they liked. She wasn't going to let something that petty ruin her night.

When got to the limo, which was already filled with their friends, Kuukai held the car door open for her, and Rima had to give him props for taking the time to practice how to be a good date beforehand. Rima entered the limo and sat down in between Yaya and Saaya, ignoring the look of utter shock Yaya was sending her, and Saaya's awkward silence. Kuukai sat right across from her, and someone gave the driver instructions on where to go next.

"Your date is _Kukai_?!" Yaya whisper-shouted in Rima's ear. "I thought you said—"

Rima whipped her head to her right side, and conveniently wasn't able to see Yaya's look of betrayal. "So Saaya, are you going to be bitter all night, or just until graduation?" Rima decided that she didn't have the time to deal with Yaya's drabble and focused more on making Saaya regret talking back to Rima. It was mush more satisfying to watch Saaya visibly stiffened next to her and started fiddling with the clasp of her purse.

"Rima, look, can we just forget about what happened?" Saaya asked, letting out a dejected sigh. She was trying not crumble apart at Rima's smug look, and had an inkling feeling that the blonde girl probably expected she was going to win this ridiculous competition from the very beginning. Saaya never liked admitting defeat, especially to someone like Rima, but she definitely didn't want everyone to hate her for being so stubborn and gloomy on the night of the Fall Ball.

"I'm… _sorry_ for all those things I said. I guess I was just, like, really upset because my dumb personal shopper bought my dress in two sizes too small the night before, and I took it out on you. I didn't mean any of it." Saaya huffed, wondering why she was the one who always had to put the most effort in this "friendship" of theirs. There was nothing worst than needing someone who didn't need you. "It's been over a week, and I… miss talking to you." She gave a weak smile and urged herself to say the next four words as sincerely as possible, no matter how difficult it was for her. "Will you forgive me?"

Rima pursed her lips, as though she was thinking it over, and Saaya resisted the urge to smack all the self-righteousness out of the petite blonde girl. Rima finally glanced back up at Saaya, and nodded. "I suppose you're forgiven. I can't even imagine how hard this past week was for you." Before Saaya could even get a word in, Rima leaned in and quietly said, "I mean, not only were you without your _ah-mazing_ best friend, but the guy you've been in love with since elementary school comes out the closet." Saaya kept silent as Rima gave her a pained look, which the red-head decided made Rima look like she was passing gas instead of trying to convey faux-sympathy.

For the sake of the night, and also because she was just so damn _tired_ of dealing with Rima, Saaya gave her friend a tight, fake smile. "Well, there have been some good things. Like seeing you in that dress! It's totally gorg."

While Saaya continued to chatter on in an attempt to diffuse all of last week's tension, Rima congratulated herself on managing to make everything work in her favor. Even if it meant stepping on a few toes along the way.

Then again, that's usually how she did everything.

* * *

><p>The Fall Ball, as expected, was amazing. Despite the corny theme, Rima had to admit that the ballroom in the Seiyo Grand Hotel looked quite spectacular on the night of the dance. The student council apparently got the idea to decorate ballroom like an "enchanted forest," making Rima feel like she was plopped in the middle of the set of <em>A Midsummer's Night Dream<em>. Elegant, thick ivy covered the walls, with large fake trees leaning against them, the branches towering over the ballroom. There were blinking lights and glitter everywhere, and the student council took advantage of the Fairy Tale Dream theme and ordered a set of black lights that went off every twenty minutes.

Although Rima would never confess this to anyone, her favorite thing about the dance were the bright, twinkling lights that were stuck to the high ceiling of the ballroom, imitating stars. She usually disliked artificial things, but she rarely ever got to see actual stars in a big city like Seiyo, and the lights were a nice replacement. Rima figured that even someone like her deserved to have moments where she got to play pretend.

"Enjoying the view?" Rima took a break from looking at the fake stars to glance back at her dance partner. Kuukai gave her a friendly smile, but Rima didn't fail to notice that his eyes kept shifting over to the short freshman standing by the punch bowl with two other girls Rima assumed were some of Yaya's dancer friends. The first thing Yaya did when coming to the Ball was leave Rima's side and drag her date (Some sophomore who was first-string on the lacrosse team) with her go find some of the other members of the dance team to hang out with. She hadn't even commented on Rima's gorgeous dress, which the blonde thought was completely out-of-character for the usually peppy freshman.

_Why do my friends insist being difficult?_ Rima thought, letting out a small, tired sigh, prompting Kukai to return his attention to his date.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, surprising Rima with his genuine concern. They'd really only gone out together because it was convenient for the two of them, and Rima was pretty sure that Kuukai was aware of her slight dislike for him, no matter how oblivious he pretended to be.

Rima just shrugged in response, glancing back at Yaya, who was visibly doing her best to ignore them. "Not that I care, but why didn't you ask Yaya out instead?" Rima enquired, thankful for her three-inch heels that allowed making conversation a little bit easier. Rima was gorgeous, but she wasn't compared to a doll for no reason. The only thing Rima had ever been concerned about appearance-wise was her height, but it never really stunted her self-esteem in anyway, since a lot of people seemed to think that her short stature only made her more precious, if possible.

Kukai gave her a nervous chuckle and released one of his hands from her waist to scratch the back of his head, which Rima assumed was some sort of anxious habit of his. "I was kind of hoping you would tell me," he confessed. "She's been kind of moody and upset lately, and she hasn't even spoken to me all night." Kukai paused, and Rima took that moment as a chance to glance back up at the fake stars. "We've been friends since literally forever, and I thought that being in the same high school together would be, like, totally awesome, but now she's completely ignoring me and I don't know why!"

This time, Rima couldn't resist the urge to roll her eyes in annoyance. "Please tell me that you really can't figure it out for yourself." Kukai frowned, and Rima let out a small, frustrated noise. "You're _that_ oblivious? It's clear that Yaya's jealous."

Kukai's eyes widened. "_Jealous_? What does she even have to be jealous of?"

Rima gave him an exasperated look like the answer should've been obvious. "All she's been complaining about for the past several weeks are how you've been spending all your time with that new girl Hoshina, and completely ignoring her. And now when you're not with Hoshina, you're with _me_ instead, even though everyone knows that you remind me of Bozo the Clown."

"_What—_?!"

"Just _please_ go comfort and reassure Yaya that you haven't been ignoring her and brushing her off, although it's painfully evident that you have been, and make her get back to acting normal. I, for one, am sick and tired of her petty and desperate attitude." Kukai let that sink in for a moment, but before he could form a proper response, someone spoke up for him.

"Please, don't even bother." Kukai's eyes widened as he saw Yaya suddenly standing behind him, her expression so heartbreakingly sad that it was hard for him to look at for too long. He knew that she couldn't have been standing there for very long, but she clearly caught the last bit of their conversation.

Her lower lip trembled slightly and before she would let anyone see her eyes as they began to glisten with tears, she turned around and hurried away, something which Rima thought was a bit too melodramatic, even for her. The black lights decided to turn on at the very moment Kukai called out to Yaya, who used the darkness to her advantage and disappeared into the crowd of teens on the packed dance floor.

Kukai groaned, and glanced back at Rima. "Wait here for a moment," he muttered, and turned to follow Yaya into the crowd.

Rima frowned, wondering how she got left alone on the dance floor so quickly. Rima was _never_ alone. How could someone just leave her like that? She was _Rima Mashiro_.

And she had no idea how to handle being left alone.

* * *

><p>"<em>How long are you going to be out?<em>"

Kairi checked his watch. "Dance ends in about an hour. I don't think the council expects me to stay to clean up." Kairi stood in the quiet parking lot, listening to his sister drone on and on about how strange it was to not have a drink immediately after a stressful day at work and how her little brother should go out more often to help her lose weight. When Kairi realized that their conversation had gotten extremely off-course, he said his goodbyes and made promises of calling her back later.

After finally hanging up, Kairi had been prepared to go back and waste another hour in the ball room, not notice a sobbing Yaya outside in the Seiyo Grand Hotel's parking lot.

Then again, he hadn't exactly planned on having a crush on her, either.

Kairi didn't have much experience at comforting heartbroken girls, but he still walked over to where Yaya sat on the ground, right underneath the streetlight that illuminated the lot. He walked over to her, ignoring her small, weak plea for him to just "go away," and handed his friend/crush a handkerchief, bracing himself as she gave the object in his hand a puzzled look. "You actually own one of these?" she asked quietly, sniffling at little the end of the sentence.

Kairi simply shrugged. "You never know when it might come in handy." Yaya paused for a moment, and accepted the hanky, not noticing the way Kairi stiffened and how red his face got when their fingers brushed each other gently during the exchange.

"I thought only grandmas still carried these," Yaya murmured, refusing to look up at him and instead lightly fingering the green embroidery on the handkerchief. She brought the clean, white piece of cloth up to her eyes and dabbed carefully, attempting to dry her tears while trying not to smudge her makeup. Then, she folded the handkerchief once, and brought it up to her nose. The loud, elephant-like noise caused by the action of blowing her nose made Kairi jump a little. For a tiny, seemingly crushed girl, she still knew how to make herself heard.

When finished, Yaya then folded the handkerchief again, and placed it back into Kairi's open hand. "Thank you _sooo_ much," she said gratefully, oblivious to Kairi's less-than-pleased expression as he put the used hanky back in his pocket. Yaya finally looked at Kairi for the first time, and asked, "Does it look like I've been crying?"

Kairi looked at Yaya's wide eyes, which were slightly red and puffy, but couldn't help but also notice how pretty she looked underneath the street lights. Then again, he thought she also looked pretty when asleep in class. He suddenly felt really shy for some reason, and looked down at his shoes in attempt to hide the slight blush on his cheeks. Having her look at him when they were alone together in the parking lot felt a lot different than the way she looked at him while they worked in class.

"You look fine," he told her, and cleared his throat. "Do you, er, want to tell me why you were so upset?" He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do in this situation. His older sister sometimes started bawling uncontrollably whenever she got herself really drunk, and even then all Kairi could do was sit beside her awkwardly while she got his shirt wet with her sloppy tears.

Yaya sighed deeply, wondering how she should respond. _Oh, nothing, I just witnessed two of my closest friends ripping me apart behind my back. No big deal._

She never got the chance to explain right then, because a loud, booming voice rang throughout the lot. "_Yaaayaaa_!" The two freshman looked up, and Yaya's brown eyes widened when saw Kuukai running out the hotel, shouting her name and frantically searching for her. "Yuiki! Are you out here?" Yaya bit her lip hard, resisting the temptation and for once, keeping silent.

She didn't know whether to be grateful or disappointed that the cars in the lot were hiding her from the jock's view. _He came running after you!_ she thought a little _too_ gleefully, but one look of concern from Kairi made her feel like there was no place she would rather be than right there, with her biology partner.

After a few minutes of waiting silently, and listening to Kuukai cursing himself for forgetting to bring his cell phone, the two freshman waited for the athlete to dejectedly run his hands through his hair, a sign that he had given up. When Kuukai finally returned inside, Yaya glanced down at her gold strappy heels, remembering a time when things were a little bit simpler.

She kept waiting for Kairi to ask what was going on, but instead, he merely said, "I know this great ice cream parlor a block from here." He had no idea where he got the courage to make such a bold suggestion, but he vaguely recalled Yaya talking about how much she was craving a sundae a couple days ago in class. Right then, he had a feeling that she could really just use a treat and maybe some company.

Without another word, Yaya ripped off her heels and hopped back on her feet. "That's the best news I've heard in weeks," she squealed, smiling widely, reaching for Kairi's arm and forgetting all about the people who were waiting for them inside. Kairi actually looked a little surprised that she had taken him up on his offer, but all other thoughts were wiped clean from his mind when he realize just how much he liked the feeling of her leaning against him as she tugged on his arm.

Besides, the Fall Ball was almost over. It's not like he would miss anything important.

* * *

><p>"Has this been spiked?"<p>

Nagihiko looked up in surprise, not even realizing that he had spaced out in the middle of his shift until he heard a girl's voice address him. He straightened his posture, only to slightly flinch at the sight of Rima Mashiro standing in front of him, looking at the glasses of punch on his serving tray suspiciously. She had one single eyebrow raised slightly, and like always, she looked innocently gorgeous.

Nagihiko knew well enough that looks were always a bit deceiving.

"I won't make any promises… ma'am," he told her, drawing out the last word and wondering if she would even recognize him. Nagihiko had no idea what he should say to her, if he should even say anything at all. He was working at his own high school dance, and had been talking to people all night rather than actually working. But now when there was a slow, couples-only dance going on, he was shocked to see Rima come up to him, especially since he was kind of rude to her when they first met.

_She hadn't even known my name either_, he thought sheepishly. Rima was still looking at the glasses, and Nagihiko wouldn't be lying if he said that he was surprised that she wasn't on the dance floor with her date. When Kukai had said he was taking _the_ Rima Mashiro, Nagihiko thought it must've been some practical joke, but then he saw them walk in together…

"Why aren't you with Souma?" Nagihiko asked out loud, and the strange expression that appeared on her pretty round face made him regret it immediately. He briefly wondered what it was about Rima that made him say all the wrong things. He was kind of a jerk to her when they had their first conversation in the hall, and now he was prying into her business. _Real smooth, Nagi_, he thought, and braced himself for one of Rima's infamous cold retorts.

Instead, she surprised him (And although Nagihiko didn't know, she even surprised herself) by simply saying, "If you go to Seiyo, you'll hear all about it at school on Monday. In the story, I'm the bitch who crushed her best friend by stealing her crush."

Nagihiko gave her a wry smile. "I'm sure it's not like that."

Rima gave him a challenging stare. "Oh? And how would _you_ know?" Nagihiko merely shrugged in response.

"Because you're too nice to do that." He couldn't resist laughing when Rima gave him a look that clearly asked, _Are you serious?_ "What I mean is, you don't look like the kind of girl who would hurt her friend for no reason."

She stared at him for a while, her expression unreadable, and for a moment Nagihiko wondered why he even bothered saying anything at all, until Rima gave him a melancholy smile. (Well, it wasn't exactly a full-on _smile_, but the corners of her lips were turned upward and she wasn't seething at him so Nagihiko figured it had to count for something.)

"Because you know me _so well,_" Rima chirped, a challenging gleam in her eye. It was then the girl decided to take on of the glasses on the tray. She habitually stuck her pinkie out as she brought the drink to her lips and took a small sip, peering at him over the glass. "I didn't ask for your reassurance. And are you suggesting that I'm the type of girl who'll intentionally hurt her friends if I feel like I have a _reason_ to?" She was trying to put him on the spot, he could tell, but what Rima didn't know what that it took a lot to make Nagihiko feel uncomfortable.

"Not at all, ma'am," he said easily. "People hurt people all the time, but you don't look like someone who would want to hurt her friends. Sometimes though… we have to hurt the ones we care about."

Rima thought about that for a moment, then scoffed. "That's ridiculous. Hitler didn't kill millions of people because he _cared_ about them."

"Of course not," Nagihiko said, and gave Rima a sad smile, "But I think that a person must really be in love if they hurt… the person they love." Rima stared at him quietly, and Nagihiko felt the urge to continue and say, "Because, they're most likely going to get hurt in the process. And that takes a lot of—"

"—love," Rima finished, and took another sip of her drink. Nagihiko looked at her in surprise, but his expression softened a bit. He couldn't help but wonder if the Ice Bitch was really as cold as she portrayed herself as, and then scolded himself for setting high expectations for people he barely even knew. Unbeknownst to Nagihiko, however, she was pondering over his words, not critically, but curiously.

"We're about to go into the final few songs of the night, you guys! Dance your asses off and make it count!" the DJ shouted in his mic, and once the crowd of students started cheering and loud dance music begin to blast, Rima took that as her cue to leave. The conversation with the work-boy had turned too friendly for her tastes.

"While it's been a real pleasure humoring you and your pseudo-philosophy, I really have to be getting back to _having fun_." She placed her half-empty cup back on the serving tray, giving Nagihiko a small wave goodbye as she walked away. "Enjoy the rest of your night," she told him, and didn't even notice when Nagihiko sent a small, smile in her direction.

* * *

><p>After having a strange conversation with a suspiciously familiar employee, Rima tried to make the most of her night, despite the fact she had been practically abandoned by her so-called friends as well as her date. No matter. There were plenty of fanboys who were more than willing to leave their dates and entertain her for the remainder of the night.<p>

Rima wasn't much of a dancer, or an avid fan of anything that involved exerting much energy, so when the DJ ordered everyone to "dance their ass off," Rima simply watched her fan boys dote on her and try to impress her with their own dance moves. She even allowed them to twirl her every once in a while and gave small golf claps of encouragement when they impressed her enough. Girls from every corner of the room looked on with jealousy, and Rima knew right then she didn't need a prince or a wannabe freshman to boost her self-esteem or make her _feel_ special.

She _was _special. She was Rima Mashiro, and Rima Mashiro was special, beautiful, smart, gorgeous, and perfect. In this fairy tale, Rima was the princess.

"R-Rima?" The timid voice somehow stood out, and rang clearly and sharply through Rima's ears, despite the deafening dance music. Rima to broke out from her reverie, whipping her head around, searching for the owner of the voice. The glare she sent towards Seiichiro couldn't have been contained when she saw him standing (Well, more like _trembling_) right behind her.

_You are so _not_ my prince_, Rima thought. _Where did you even come from?_ she wondered, staring down at him viciously. He looked no different than that day in the hall. He even had his school uniform on, and it looked just as tight and awkward as ever. His hair was frazzled, his thick-rimmed glasses were uneven, and there was a lot of grease and shine on his face.

"Did you not get the message last time?" Rima snapped, glaring at him. She could feel the eyes of almost everyone on her, and she was not about to let this pest ruin _her_ night.

"I-I know... b-but..." Saying that Seiichiro looked like a mess was an understatement. He looked visibly distressed, and was sweating through his school blazer. His lanky legs started shaking, like he was getting prepared to run a marathon. Rima just wished he would run away. "I-I just wanted to ask… if you w-would dance with—"

"What? Dance with _you_?" Rima spat venomously, deciding to simply get it over with. She was used to admirers, but none of them were like Seiichiro. He didn't know his place and definitely had no right to be such an annoying pest. Rima had standards, and people like Seiichiro definitely needed to understand them. Everyone had their place, and Seiichiro's was cowering behind his glasses and dreaming about Rima from afar, _not_ acting out those fantasies.

"Look, I said this once, and I'll say it again. There will _never_ be _anything_ between me and you. Know why? It's because_ you're _a lanky, greasy, gross, unsightly, unseeingly, atrocious little _pest_. You have horrid fashion sense, are clearly in the wrong state of mind and delusional to even _think_ that I would ever consider being with a _freak_ like you."

"_I gave you so many chances."_

"What?" Rima blinked and Seiichiro was gone. She furrowed her brow, trying to see where he had run off to, or who at least know who was speaking to her.

"S_o many chances, Rima."_

"Did you hear something?" she asked out loud, only to get confused looks from her fanboys. "Where did that loser go?" she asked instead, only to get indifferent and uncaring shrugs in response. Rima wondered if they could even hear her.

The boys got back to trying to get her attention, but Rima was completely disoriented. She figured that she must've been a little lightheaded (Maybe the punch _was_ spiked), and looked back up at the fake stars on the ceiling, trying to block out the loud dance music and concentrate on the dimly-lit, twinkling lights.

Then the black lights went back on, and Rima was surrounded by neon colors. She looked around, briefly wondering what time it was. She suddenly felt so tired, and the only thing on her mind was—

"_So. Many. Chances."_

Rima looked up and saw a figure in the middle of the crowd. A tall, foreign girl, who seemed like she was photoshopped into the dance floor. The black lights hadn't affected her at all. Rima could clearly see the girl as if she was in broad daylight and not a dark ballroom. She stood out terribly, with her ivory skin, shocking turquoise dress, and bright yellow hair that had some terribly horrendous barrette stuck in it, but no one else even spared her a passing glance.

The girl looked directly at Rima, and she suddenly felt frozen in place. The foreign girls' eyes were the color of ice, and Rima wondered how everyone didn't even notice the stranger when she couldn't even look away. With something resembling a smirk, the stranger turned away from the dance floor, and walked out the ballroom.

For a moment, Rima thought she had gone crazy. Was it bad punch or just a part of her imagination? "I'll be back," Rima said to no one in particular, and ran off blindly in the same direction she thought the girl went off to. Most likely it was her tired mind playing tricks, but Rima couldn't accept that for an answer. She _wasn't_ crazy. She couldn't have been. She was Rima Mashiro.

And Rima Mashiro was _perfect_.

* * *

><p>Rima found herself led to a staircase. According to the sign, it led to the rooftop of the hotel, and guests were not allowed to go through.<p>

But the strange girl was on the rooftop. Rima knew it. The girl _had _to be up there. Rima couldn't explain how, but the strong feeling was too loud and too irritating to ignore. Disobeying the printed words ordering her to not to enter, Rima walked up the steps, slowly taking her time getting up in her heels. Halfway up she tore them off her feet, figuring she could just put them back on after she got through the tall steps. There was another door at the end of the staircase, with another sign telling her not to go on the rooftop, but Rima knew that she couldn't turn back now.

She saw the girl leaning against the edge, overlooking the streets below. When Rima walked toward her, the girl turned around and gave Rima a brief look, as though she had been expecting her, and went back to looking down at the streets.

Rima stood a few feet behind her, wide eyes glued to the girl. The silence went on for a few long seconds, until the girl let out a deep sigh.

"It's a shame about Seiichiro," she said, her clear voice ringing through Rima's ears. The girl had an accent (French, maybe?) and Rima could imagine the foreign girl uttering, _So many chances,_ over and over again until Rima was driven to the brink of insanity.

"Hmm?" Rima inquired, wondering what the stranger was going on about. The foreigner merely smiled and waved her hand over to the city, gesturing to the streets below. Rima stepped toward the edge slowly, and couldn't even find her voice when she saw what lay on the sidewalk in front of the hotel.

_It… It can't be_. Rima's eyes were stuck on Seiichiro's mangled body below. He was in a puddle of his own blood, and his arms and legs were twisted in grotesque directions. Rima could almost hear the _SNAP_ of his tiny body breaking as it hit the pavement. She felt like throwing up. There was no way Seiichiro could be dead. There was no way he was killed so morbidly just moments after standing right in front of her.

_There was no way…_

"Just kidding!" Rima looked down in horror as Seiichiro's body simply vanished into thin air. There was absolutely zero traces of him ever even being there. The blood, the body, everything was gone. Rima finally got the will to look up at the foreign girl, trying to mask her fear with the impassive expression that she had perfected over the years. From the foreign girl's smug look, it wasn't working.

"Who the hell are you? Some kind of wannabe magician?" Rima huffed, tightly holding on to the ledge of the building, not fully trusting her legs to support her anymore.

"Oh I didn't introduce myself officially yet, have I?" The girl let out an actual cackle, making Rima give her a wary look. "You can just call me Lulu." The foreigner gave Rima a thoughtful look. "A magician? Well… I guess I'm _something_ like that," she said mysteriously. Rima was not impressed.

"I'd get some new material if I were you," Rima muttered. Maybe she was just too dehydrated, or too tired. Maybe she was too stressed. There was no way she was actually on a rooftop, talking to some freaky occult girl. Or maybe she _was_ going crazy.

"I don't think your mental health is the problem here." Rima froze in place, wondering if she just heard Lulu correctly. The strange, yellow-haired girl couldn't have _actually_ responded to her thoughts. It must've been some weird magician trick.

"Okay, I kind of lied. I'm not _actually_ a magician." Lulu chuckled, as though the two of them were sharing a little inside joke, even though Rima found nothing about their conversation even remotely funny. "Magicians use flashy tricks to entertain people. I use magic to cast spells."

Rima stared at her for about three seconds, then muttered, "Figures. All the freaks come out at night."

Said freaky blonde girl let out a hoot of laughter. "_Witch_, darling. Not a freak. Not that it matters to you." Rima rolled her eyes, went back to staring down at the sidewalk where Seiichiro had just disappeared from. Was craziness contagious? It seemed like Rima might've been catching some of it.

"Rima." Rima froze at the mention of her name, knowing that she never told Lulu who she was. But that couldn't possibly mean anything. Practically everyone already knew who she was. She was _Rima Mashiro—_

"Rima, you have _no idea_ how many chances you had to redeem yourself." Lulu sighed deeply, as though the conversation itself was incredibly exhausting. "I spent more time with you than necessary. I didn't even have to come to the dance tonight and ask again, but I did because I was hoping you had the potential to change." She didn't seem to care when Rima sent a visibly aggravated look of frustration her way.

"Ask me _what_?" Rima demanded, getting fed up with the witch girl's nonsense. This girl was out of her mind. Maybe she had the wrong Rima. She never should've came up here. Crazy must have been contagious, and she'd rather be downstairs with her desperate fanboys than trying to figure out what the witch girl was going on about.

"Ask you to _open up_." And suddenly, Lulu disappeared into thin air, and in her place was Seiichiro. Rima couldn't find her voice when Seiichiro said, in the with Lulu's voice, "But you wouldn't even treat me like an _actual person_ because I was a lanky, greasy, gross, unsightly, unseeingly, atrocious little _pest_." Before Rima could even compose herself to response properly, Seiichiro disappeared again, and with a dramatic puff of purple smoke, Lulu reappeared.

"You're not very pretty on the inside," Lulu crooned, inspecting Rima carefully. "I think it's only right that your appearance gets the same treatment."

The unsightly barrette in her hair glowed brightly, and Lulu waved her right hand, conjuring up a dazzling bright flash, making Rima suddenly more lightheaded. _What's going on_? Rima thought, as the whole world started to spin and her vision was filled with fake stars and bright purple smoke. Her hand reached out and grasped a hold of the ledge tightly, fearing that she would topple over and crumble to the floor. Her entire body hunched over, and she could feel the temperature drop in the air. Her hair fell out of it's updo, but she could barely register it tumbling down her shoulders like it usually did.

Then, the entire world stopped entirely, and Rima couldn't even feel the night breeze or hear the cars driving the streets below. She let out a shallow breath, and stopped herself from screeching in surprise when Lulu sang, "One more chance is all you get, dear!"

Rima looked up, a bit disoriented as she stared into Lulu's bright blue eyes. "What?" Rima heard someone say, but it couldn't have been her. The voice sounded hoarse and rough, like someone who spent half of their life smoking and another half dehydrated in the desert. Her entire body felt weak and uncomfortable and simply… _foreign_, like her legs suddenly fell off and got attached to her shoulders or she was wearing someone else's skin.

"This is your night, right?" A old-styled, silver hand mirror appeared in Lulu's hands. "You should try to look your absolute best." She knelt down beside Rima, and without any warning, held the mirror up for her to see.

This time, Rima couldn't contain her scream.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Sorry if it seems a bit rushed. I put this off for too long, and it took me a while to finish it.

I know a lot of stuff in this chapter seems random, but it's all relevant to Rima's character development and story. In each snippet, you see how her current personality affects her actions and everyone around her. It all ties together in future chapters. Sorry if it isn't that apparent or doesn't make much sense. I did the best I could. ._.

Amu is extremely important in the story, as well as Nikaidou and Tadase and even Utau, who has only been briefly mentioned like twice this entire story. Their stories and their relevance to the main plot will be revealed in future chapters. Why Amu is Rima's nanny at such a young age will also be explained.

This chapter is actually kind of disappointing, but all types of feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading!


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